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That was pathetic CR. They already shat one game away like that vs Colorado but this one was a million times worse. Even the usually solid guys seem to have given up on the season. Getzlaf at fault for the first goal, Perry for the second (kid needs to grow up fast) and then Hiller breaks the golden rule of goaltending and throws the puck into the net on the Canadiens last penalty shot. I was thinking of going to the game but my Sunday soccer team would have been short - God I would have been fuming if I had driven out there and paid for that shit.
This team should have been sellers at the deadline. You don't go and add veteran salary for a 30-70 shot at an 8 seed. Some of the personnel decisions are bizarre. Why the hell isn't Sbisa getting some NHL experience? Why are Festerling and Mikkelson bounced back and forth between the AHL and the NHL and never allowed to settle in either place? If you are going to throw marginal NHL defenseman out there every night, might as well be getting guys experience. |
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Yeah, good thing you stayed where you were. That would have been an ugly ride home. I don't mind the Ducks taking a chance on this year as, IMO, outside of the top 3-4 teams in the West, I don't think any other team in the conference has yet proven they're better or more talented. This team still has a ton of talent, and between the Toronto deal and the deadline deals, I do think there's more talent there now, too. But the maddening inconsistency is just galling. I think we lost too much on the checking line and we gave away too much in our own end to start the season, and that made us a defensively unsound team, even with better goaltending. That, combined with the injuries and turnover issues (all of the defensmen this year have been awful with turnovers) that remind me of two seasons ago (the post-Cup year), have really put us on our heels. Last year, the team nutted up and got back in it. This year, that attitude doesn't seem to be there, for some reason. I think they determined that Sbisa wasn't ready at that time, and NHL rules required the juniors move, so there wasn't much to be done about that. I do think the team would have been better just keeping Mikk and Fest up here the whole time, rather than marching out Eminger and Boynton. What a waste those two have been. |
I have been thinking of next year, trying to figure out what this team will look like. I don't really have any idea. I am assuming Ryan gets resigned (even if it comes as a matching deal), and I put Wiz coming back at 50-50. Nieds, Teemu and Koivu will be gone. Probably Ward, too. That puts us at...
Perry-Getzlaf-Ryan Lupul-Who knows-Blake Carter-Marchant-Brown Sexton-????-???? With Parros in reserve, as usual. Wisniewski-Visnovsky Brookbank-Mikkelsson Festerling-Sbisa Hiller-McElhinney There are a ton of holes in this lineup and yet the money allocated to big guys (Getzlaf-Perry-Blake-Lupul-Visnovsky-Hiller and presumeably Ryan and Wiz), I don't know much there is left to go out there to fill holes. A roster based around the above looks to be a shooin for a high first rounder in 2011. Older first rounders who might have helped (Mitera, MacMillan) have either not shown much since signing their pro contracts, or have had off the ice issues. Kids like Gardner at Wisky, who knows when they'll be ready. Tangredi, who would have been a nice talent to slip in at the #2 C spot, is now in Pittsburgh because of that stupid Whitney deal. Maybe the BC kid (Bonino? I forget), he'll probably be with the team, that might help. But what is there really to look forward to at this point for next year? Ugh. |
Yeah I can't disagree on anything you said there. I'm not ready to give up on Mitera yet but the prospect situation as a whole is very weak. Any team with that defense is going to have a top 5 pick for sure.
Team used to be built around toughness, defense and dependability and it won a Stanley Cup. And it just seems to have morphed into a team built around inconsistent, talented guys who either have worn out their welcome elsewhere or just don't have the heart or stomach for a fight. Very frustrating. You can definitely point to letting Moen and Pahlsson walk as the start of the downfall, every move since then has just been a downgrade. Thank God we lucked into Hiller. I really feel sorry for Getzlaf who is by far my favorite hockey player ever and is going to be stuck on a crappy team for the next few years, working his ass off. That defense you have there could be the worst in the league. I guess we get down on our knees and pray Sbisa is the second coming, Wiz gets back to his early Chicago form and either Mikkelson or Festerling steps up... otherwise it's going to be a hell of a long year. |
I thought this was a cool blog post...
The playoff push: Records that reward a playoff berth - From The Rink |
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From the article: San Jose Sharks Much like the Caps they can go 0-17-0, but they'll probably save that winless streak for the playoffs SI |
Yeah that part cracked me up too.
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My turn to play the role of northern MBBF: The Coyotes are coming to Winnipeg.
I should add that I have absolutely no clue how credible this Peter Tessier is, nor am I standing behind what he's written... but between this and the recent Thrashers-to-Winnipeg talk I am starting to get minorly hopeful that something is indeed going on behind the scenes to get a team here. |
I was walking downtown a couple of days ago when the Winnipeg Sun's headline was something about the Thrashers not coming here after all. And I said to a co-worker "We're not getting a team, they'll fail. We can't support an NHL team."
And a couple in front of me just turned around and gave me this horrible look. Oops. |
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I hope that wasn't Mark Chipman and his wife! :p |
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Haha no definitely not! |
I should add that I'll be a little annoyed if they don't call them the Jets. I could understand it if we were getting the Thrashers or something, because its a different franchise, but the Coyotes ARE the Jets! The history is there, lets not hide from it. I want to be able to look back and compare current players to the Hawerchuck's and Steen's. I want to wear my retro Jets jerseys to games. I want the awesome colour scheme. And I definitely do not want some crappy new-wave name and colours, like the Winnipeg WolfDawgs all decked out in shiny silver with fur on their shoulders or something.
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I hope Winnipeg gets a team soon. I think it is time for Gary to admit his mistakes with some of the southern teams and move them back to Canada.
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Yeah, on a similar note... why did they call them the Minnesota Wild when they came back? North Stars was great. Hockey died for me as a kid when Selanne was traded, so I'm still bitter at the NHL a bit and pessimistic about the whole Jets thing. |
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Boooooo. |
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Couldn't be North Stars because they became the Dallas Stars, and owned the name. |
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Oh ok, completely forgot about that. So if it is the Thrashers, no Jets because of stupid money stuff. But if it's the Coyotes, then yay. |
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It would get me to follow hockey closer again, that's for sure. I hate Gary Bettman. |
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And it would make me follow it far less, so it all evens out i guess. |
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And it would not at all affect how closely I follow hockey, so we have all our bases covered. |
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Thrashers or Coyotes fan? |
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Thrashers, Kings, and ducks if were just talking "non-traditional market" teams. Born in Atlanta, live in california but have been going to hockey games ever since atlanta got an IHL team. |
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Ok, well, I'd prefer the Coyotes for the Jets thing so here's hoping to Atlanta keeping their team and the Coyotes moving to Winnipeg. :) |
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I dont LIKE the idea of any city losing their team but if Phoenix keeps losing insane amounts of money it makes a decent amount of sense. |
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Winnipeg, Hartford, and Quebec all lost their teams too. :( |
THN Future Watch came in the mail yesterday.
As in past years, make a request, I'll do my best to list your team's grade/prospects. |
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Wings please. Curious to see if Smith took over the #1 spot. |
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Bruins, please. |
devils please
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NYR please.
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If SR doesn't get you guys them tonight, I can do it for you tomorrow. I left my THN Future's Report at work.
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Ducks pelase.
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Nice to see another Ducks fan on the board. You might have noticed me and bhlloy bitching about our team a few posts up. |
The Bruins season ended tonight. It had been on life support for months now but tonight's OT to a bad Toronto squad sealed the deal for me.
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WolfDawgs... er, Coyotes please :D
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Really? Have you seen how the group chasing you is doing lately? Atlanta and Tampa Bay both lost tonight. That leaves the Rangers in 9th by three points and Boston has a game in hand. Hell, the only team that's playing any good (Carolina) is nine points back and it would take a finish of epic proportions to get them in (I hope... :D ). Nonetheless, I think the Bruins are probably going to make it at this point. Nobody behind them is doing anything to take it from them. |
Win by the Leafs tonight vs the Bees must feel like a double whammy to Bruin fans.
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BTW...Wideman is terrible....He got caught pinching numerous times including the game winner tonight.
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Off-topic, but I found this story in the local paper rather amusing:
Sidney Crosby fan with gun robs mall pretzel shop : Latest Local News : The Buffalo News |
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Springfield Oilers, please and thank you. |
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Detroit team ranking 28th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Brendan Smith D, (39) 2. Tomas Tatar LW (55) 3. Jakub Kindl D (63) 4. Thomas McCollum G 5. Gustav Nyquist LW 6. Landon Ferraro C 7. Jan Mursak RW 8. Cory Emmerton C 9. Joakim Andersson C 10. Mattias Ritola RW |
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Boston team ranking 19th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Joe Colborne C (23) 2. Jordan Caron RW (62) 3. Brad Marchand RW (73) 4. Zach Hamill C 5. Carl Soderberg C 6. Adam Mcquaid D 7. Jamie Arniel C 8. Maxime Sauve C 9. Ryan Button D 10. Tommy Cross D |
sabres please
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Caps, please.
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Devils team ranking 25th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Jacob Josefson C (37) 2. Mattias Tedenby LW (40) 3. Matt Corrente D 4. Adam Henrique C 5. Tyler Eckford D 6. Mike Hoeffel LW 7. Matt Halischuk RW 8. Alexander Urbom D 9. Alexander Vasyunov LW 10. Jeff Frazee G |
Chicago, please
SI |
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Yes, Wideman has probably been the biggest disappointment this season with an unaggressive Lucic right behind. How Wideman played at such an incredible level last season (and the whole team, for that matter) amazes me now that he's regressed to this point. He has been horrible all year, especially when he eats all that extra ice time when Chara is out. |
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Overall rankings are in parentheses: NYR Team Ranking 5th 1. Derek Stepan C (16) 2. Evgeny Grachev LW (21) 3. Chris Kreider C (22) 4. Ryan McDonagh D (67) 5. Bobby Sanguinetti D 6. Chad Johnson G 7. Ethan Werek C 8. Scott Stajcer G 9. Mike Sauer D 10. Ryan Bourque C |
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Ducks overall Ranking is 18th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Luca Sbisa D (9) 2. Kyle Palmieri RW (70) 3. Peter Holland C 4. Jake Gardiner D 5. Nic Deschamps LW 6. Nick Bonino C 7. Brandon McMillan C 8. Igor Bobkov G 9. Justin Schultz D 10. Sami Vatanen D |
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Phoenix overall ranking is 6th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Oliver Ekman-Larsson D (3) 2. Kyle Turris C (12) 3. Mikkel Boedker RW (14) 4. Max Goncharov D (44) 5. Kevin Porter RW 6. Brett Maclean LW 7. Viktor Tikhonov LW 8. Chris Summers D 9. David Schlemko D 10. Mike Stone D |
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Oilers overall ranking is 12th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Jordan Eberle C (6) 2. M. Paajarvi-Svensson LW (11) 3. Jeff Petry D (56) 4. Taylor Chorney D 5. Anton Lander C 6. Teemu Hartikainen C 7. Alex Plante D 8. Riley Nash C 9. Linus Omark LW 10. Johan Motin D |
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Sabers team ranking is 15th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Tyler Ennis C (29) 2. Zack Kassian RW (53) 3. Jhonas Enroth G 4. Nathan Gerbe RW 5. Brayden McNabb D 6. Luke Adam LW 7. M-A Gragnani D 8. Mike Weber D 9. Dennis Persson D 10. Drew Schiestel |
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Caps team ranking is 13th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. John Carlson D (5) 2. Karl Alzner D (18) 3. Michal Neuvirth G (30) 4. Marcus Johansson C (60) 5. Mathieu Perreault RW 6. Braden Holtby G 7. Stefan Della Rovere LW 8. Dmitri Orlov D 9. Anton Gustafsson C 10. Oskar Osala LW |
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Chicago's overall team ranking is 4th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Jack Skille RW (47) 2. Corey Crawford G 3. Kyle Beach LW 4. Bryan Bickell LW 5. Akim Aliu RW 6. Marcus Kruger C 7. Dylan Olsen D 8. Shawn Lalonde D 9. Bill Sweatt LW 10. Brandon Pirri C |
One note on the team ranking...it is a ranking of prospects 21 and younger. So there is some weight to NHLers in there.
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Thanks kindly :)
SI |
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Thanks for the clarification. The Chicago one had me confused. A 47th ranked guy and they were 4 overall, but NHLers being included helps explain it. |
Thanks!
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Sharks, please, if you're still posting them.
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San Jose's overall team ranking is 27th Overall rankings are in parentheses: 1. Logan Couture C (36) 2. Nick Petrecki D 3. Derek Joslin D 4. Steven Zalewski LW 5. Patrik Zackrisson LW 6. Tyson Sexsmith G 7. William Wrenn D 8. Taylor Doherty D 9. Julien Demers D 10. Samuel Groulx D |
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Thanks Sak. No clue who that #1 kid is. |
Derek Stepan C, 19 Wisconsin (WCHA)
6-0 172 lbs 24 GP 6 G 23 A 29 Pts Stepan, who grew up in Hastings, Minn, and attended Shattuck -St. Mary's, punctuated his rise to the top spot with an outstanding performance as Captain of the US team that defeated Canada in the World Juniors. He led all players with 14 points, including 4 goals in 7 games. Scouts describe him as a playmaker in the mold of Craig Janney and Adam Oates. "I don't know if I'd put him in that category, but they can make a play at any time to win a game and that's what he showed," said director of player personnel Gordie Clark. Acquired: 2008 draft 51st overall |
48-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios called up by Atlanta Thrashers - ESPN
Chris Chelios is headed back to the show. The 48-year-old defenseman has been called up by the Atlanta Thrashers, general manager Don Waddell told ESPN.com Wednesday. Chelios had 22 points (5 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games with the AHL's Chicago Wolves this season. He signed an NHL deal with the Thrashers on March 2. The Wolves are Atlanta's primary AHL affiliate. The Chicago native last played in the NHL last May 27 with the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals. |
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Did the Leafs make the Top 30?
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18th |
No suspension for Cooke.
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Ridiculous. |
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LOL |
Now I know was Sak does at work all day ;)
I probably post this same rant every year, but I still don't understand the rankings alot of the time. Seems like either a guy in the most recent draft is the flavor of the month. Or the old standbys. A guy drafted in 2008 who is playing another year in junior (rather than in the NHL as an 18/19 year old) is downgraded. but then you have- Exhibit A: Jack Skille. 5th straight year in the top 50, maybe top 30 a handful of those. This isn't to say he won't still turn into a good player, but even as soon as 3 seasons ago, the Hawks were not a stacked team, and they couldn't find a spot for him. Exhibit B: Kyle Turris. 12th overall, really? His draft year he was 3...and after being awful in the NHL and mediocre in the AHL...he's 12th? That said, there are alot I agree with: Jacob Markstrom in Florida has raised his status every year, up to 2nd. Or a guy like Sbisa being 9, who keeps proving he should be in the NHL. |
Thrashers please
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3-3 after one in the Stars-Sabres game. Pretty fun to watch (Miller is having a off-night).
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I'll get to see his first game back tomorrow night. Hopefully they inform him not to wear his Confederacy uniform tomorrow night against the Blue Jackets. |
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Overall ranking 9th 1) Patrice Cormier (34) 2) Jeremy Morin (49) 3) Carl Klingberg 4) Paul Postma 5) Arturs Kulda 6) Daulton Leveille 7) Angelo Esposito 8) Spencer Machacek 9) Alex Kangas 10) Eric O'Dell Poor Esposito...remember in 2005 when he was the next Crosby? |
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Done!! |
5-3 win! Myers had a 4-point night (1 goal, 3 assists). He is just exciting to watch. Love how the team finally picked up for Miller, who was not on his best tonight. Something they need to do on a regular basis.
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Canes give a good accounting against Caps in DC, losing in OT, 4-3. Caps threatened to run away and hide early with the first two goals of the game, but Carolina settled down and generally played with or outplayed Washington the rest of the way. Only got a point, though, so still eight out and continuing to cling to the slimmest of hopes. Losing those games in Edmonton, Calgary, and Florida are probably what's going to ultimately finish them off, though. Just dug far too deep a hole in the first two months of the year.
Pens in Raleigh to finish a really brutal back-to-back set tomorrow night. Wonder if attendance will be up or down tomorrow since State and UNC will be in the late session games tomorrow night in Greensboro, but both teams suck royal this year and are expected to be eliminated quickly. |
Hey Sabres, do you think you could actually give a shit about tonight's game?
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I love watching Ovechkin play, and he's a great character, but its time for him to dial it back a notch. He's gotten out of hand with the dirty hits this season.
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Sounds like there's a decent chance the Coyotes could stay in Phoenix. Their attendance has increased from about 9K a game earlier in the season to almost 12K because of their recent success. This has made a long term purchase a little more realistic:
Ice Edge CEO optimistic deal for Coyotes can be reached Quote:
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I wish the NHL would just admit hockey in the desert was a mistake and move the team back to Winnipeg or a real hockey market.
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Are you implying that the Jets were making a ton of money and got moved anyway? Winnipeg had problems too you know.
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OH SHIT IT'S ON NOW
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not starting shit, just annoyed that when a non-traditional team has money troubles its a "failed experiment" but when Winnipeg has money troubles nobody says the same.
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I think the beef would be that Winnipeg is in fact a hockey market that simply doesn't have the corporate backing that the "new" NHL wanted in place. Phoenix has all the money but nobody gives two shits about hockey so they aren't spending their money to support the NHL. What's worse? |
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Neither is good by any means but I tend to think that at least in a place like Phoenix profit is possible, they just need multiple successful years first. Id love to see a place like Winnipeg have a team if it were realistic but im not convinced it is. |
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Yes, this was basically my point. Of course I'm jaded because Peter Karmanos ripped my team out and moved them to North Carolina. |
DirecTV and Versus have finally reached an agreement.
VERSUS will be returning to the same DirecTV programming packages it was at the end of August 2009. |
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And 12 people celebrate :( |
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Another problem with Winnipeg, beyond the lack of major corporations, is the inherent problem that Winnipeggers are really, really cheap. It's a blue-collar, 'whole-sale' city and that's where it comes into direct conflict with the current-day NHL. Do we love hockey? Sure. But only to a point, or I suppose a price-point, and the million-dollar question is what that price-point is. The city has changed a bit in the last 15 years, it is loosening up a little, but I'm not sure if it's enough. I have no doubts that if we were to get a team, it would sell out every game for the first 2-3 years, even at very high prices. But then, if the team on the ice were to be mediocre like the Jets/Coyotes have always been, I wonder what would happen. How much would Winnipeggers be willing to spend to head downtown on a random night in January when it's 40 below outside once the sheen has worn off the building and the team? |
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The problem in Phoenix hasn't been the market, it's been the quality of the team. If they put a decent product on the ice and get the ownership issue straightened out, they could easily average 16,000-17,000 a night (which would put them about mid-league in attendance). As an FYI, the Jets had maxed out at around 12-13K in their best days. |
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That's fair but how realistic is it to think that, a) they will have multiple successful years, and b) if it will matter one iota? They have a great team and are in last in attendance again this season...how many seasons do they need to be successful on the ice before they become successful financially? Not saying that Winnipeg or Quebec City is the answer but Phoenix has already proven time and time again that they don't care about the NHL so why continue to try and fix something that can't be fixed? |
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Which was the capacity of the arena. There is a new arena, but sadly it didn't add a lot of seats. Maybe another thousand or so. |
Yeah, the Glendale Arena in Phoenix is very nice (went to two games over the past few weeks and going again next Saturday). It seats 18,000 people for NHL games and has 100 luxury suites and nearly 500 club suites. I can't imagine a spot in Winnipeg offering the revenue that the Phoenix Arena offers (esp given the sweetheart lease the team is working on getting as well).
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Where can I find average attendance? Theres things ive heard about various teams that Id actually like solid info on. For instance Ive heard that the devils have AWFUL attendance for a good team but i dont know actual numbers or how they compare.
Edit: N/m, found 2009 data. im curious to see 2010 for phoenix though because they have picked up lately. |
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The old barn held 15k+. Edit: Which made it larger than the new arena, btw. |
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Thought I saw somewhere that capacity was around 15,000...or maybe that was for playoffs and were able to add additional standing room/temporary seats. What Fidatelo said makes a lot of sense and I would think Edmonton resembles Winnipeg only on a slightly larger scale. We're a very blue collar city where we love our hockey but I'll be very honest, I think I've only paid for hockey tickets once while I've lived here (10 years) and that was for a special occasion as I had friends from out of town and wanted to take them out for the night. If I go to a game it's usually when a buddy calls who has an extra ticket (corporate season ticket holders) and even then, the last couple of seasons I haven't really been all that excited to go because what Fid said...walking from your car in -40 for overpriced beer and bad hockey just isn't my idea of fun these days especially now that I don't get nearly as many nights out with two kids!! Five years ago (before kids), I said yes every time somebody called to ask me to go to a game...now, the stars need to be aligned and the weather needs to be decent and the visiting better have a superstar or two on it...otherwise I'm content to hangout at home and maybe watch it on TV...maybe not. Now, if we were winning...well, it happens, I'll let you know if anything changes. |
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In defense of the Jets, comparing average attendance figures from their time in Winnipeg to those of teams 'nowadays' is unfair, because teams have learned how to inflate those numbers a large degree in the last 10-15 years. Those 12-13k that the Jets averaged were always actually people in the seats, whereas now you can have attendance figures showing 14k when everyone knows there are no more than 10k in the building. |
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